Pinto is a Jewish surname documented in the 16th century in Italy, mainly Sicilian and widely present in the province of Italy. It was later scattered in Spain, then largely in Portugal, then other Latin countries such as Brasil and many other South American countries. Pinto is also widely present in Israel. Historically, it has been common among political elites in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries, as many presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state have shared the surname. In many languages, Pinto means "colored" or "painted" because it derives from late Latin pinctus and classical Latin pictus, and in some cases at least from the same word in the sense "living or restless person". It is linguistically linked to the name of Columbus' ship, La Pinta, which means "the painted", "the look" or "the spotted". The unit of measure "pinte", which comes from the Old French word pinte and perhaps ultimately from the vulgar Latin pincta meaning "painted", is also related, although very divergent in its meaning, for the marks painted on the side of 'a container to show the capacity.
